Dónal O'Connor

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Dónal O'Connor
Irish traditional
Folk
Celtic music
Occupation(s)Musician, producer, composer, Music teacher, Television presenter
Years active1996–present
LabelsAt First Light
Compass Records
Vertical Records
Websitewww.redboxrecording.com/about/donal-oconnor/

Dónal O'Connor is an Irish multi-instrumentalist, producer and television presenter, producer & director[1] from Ravensdale, County Louth, Ireland. He was a member of Belfast-based Irish traditional groups Ulaid & At First Light and his parents group Lá Lugh.[2]

Early life

O'Connor was born into an Irish-speaking household. His father is fiddler

Gerry O'Connor and his mother was singer and flute player Eithne Ní Uallacháin (died 1999).[3][4] His maternal grandparents were Pádraig Ó hUallacháin, a teacher, writer and song collector, and Eithne bean Uí Uallacháin. His paternal grandmother was fiddler and fiddle teacher Rose O'Connor. O'Connor is also the nephew of singers Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin and Len Graham.[5]

Career

1996–2005: Lá Lugh to festivals

O'Connor's first recorded fiddle work appeared on Brighid's Kiss in 1996, an album by Lá Lugh, his parents' group. That year, the album was voted Album of the Year by Irish Music Magazine readers.[6]

In 2001, O'Connor was invited to join Mike McGoldrick, John McSherry and Paul McSherry to launch 'At First Light' VERTCD061 on a tour of Ireland and subsequently at Helsinki Folk Festival, Open House Festival, Return to Camden Town, Copenhagen Irish Festival and Dranouter Folk Festival in Belgium. That year, he produced Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin's Laoi Faoi, which was nominated for the RTÉ/Réalt Song Contest. In 2003, O'Connor featured on New Irish Hymns (released as In Christ Alone in the United States) by Moya Brennan, Margaret Becker and Joanne Hogg with compositions by Keith Getty[7] and in the summer of that year presented the BBC Radio Ulster programme Cualán. O'Connor acted as music teaching consultant on the 2003 film, The Boys and Girl from County Clare, directed by John Irvin and starring Andrea Corr, Colm Meaney and Bernard Hill.[8]

O'Connor performed with

Gerry O'Connor
's Journeyman, which he also co-produced.

2006–2010: Tripswitch and Six Days in Down

In April 2006, O'Connor released

Raidió na Gaeltachta
to promote the album.

In Spring 2006, O'Connor presented

Temple Bar TradFest,[17] Return to Camden Town and William Kennedy International Piping Festival
.

2009 saw O'Connor return with at First Light to Glasgow's Celtic Connections festival and World Folk Cultures Festival in

The Irish Festival of Oulu, Finland.[19]

2011–present

In 2011, O'Connor was commissioned by

orchestrations were performed at the 18th William Kennedy Piping Festival and was recorded by the Irish Traditional Music Archive. O'Connor received a second such commission in 2012.[21]

O'Connor produced, arranged and played on Belfast singer Gráinne Holland's debut album, Teanga na nGael, released in August 2011.[22] In Autumn 2011, he released Idir, his band's debut album and first release since at First Light took their name to promote O'Connor and McSherry's Tripswitch. The group toured extensively throughout Europe to promote the album, making their third appearance at the Celtic Connections festival.[23] Idir was released in the United States by Compass Records in 2012.

In August 2012, O'Connor produced Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin's album

The Soma Festival in Castlewellan, County Down
.

In 2015 O'Connor joined longtime collaborator John McSherry and

Deanta, Liam Ó Maonlaí Hothouse Flowers, Ríoghnach Connolly, and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh formerly of Danú
.

In 2017 Ulaid & Belfast songster Duke Special joined forces to record a live record 'A Note Let Go'. Charting the story of Belfast through song they occasionally come together to perform live.

O'Connor continues to produce records from his Redbox recording Studios in Belfast and also acts as producer and music supervisor on traditional music programmes for broadcasters in Ireland and the UK such as RTE, TG4, BBC NI and BBC Alba.

Discography

Albums

Further credits

(Co-)Producer
  • 2004 – Journeyman (Gerry O'Connor)
  • 2010 – Beo: Live at Maddens (Various artists)
  • 2010 – About Time (Stevie Dunne)
  • 2012 – Teanga na nGael (Gráinne Holland)
  • 2012 – Let the Faries in (Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin)
  • 2013 – The sun, the moon, the stars... and other moving objects (David Dee Moore)
  • 2013 – Celtic Psalms (Kiran Young Wimberly)
  • 2014 – Bilingua (Eithne Ní Uallacháin)
  • 2015 – Skorsa : The Riddle of the Earth – (Susan Grace Bates)
  • 2015 – Boy in a Boat – (Barry Kerr)
  • 2015 – Súile – (Clann Mhic Ruairí)
  • 2015 – Crossroads – (Marco Fabri)
  • 2015 – The Northern Concertina – (Jason O'Rourke)
  • 2015 – Gaelré – (Gráinne Holland)
  • 2015 – Good Morning to Your Nightcap – (Paul Maguire, Ruadhraí O'Kane, Desy Adams & Ryan O'Donnell)
  • 2015 – Ulaid – (John McSherry, Dónal O'Connor & Seán Óg Graham)
  • 2016 – Clear Skies – (Réalta)
  • 2016 – Tús Nua – (Gatehouse)
  • 2017 – The Fox's Lament – (Martin Meehan)
  • 2017 – A Note Let Go – (Ulaid & Duke Special)
  • 2018 – Autumn Winds – (Niall Hanna)
  • 2018 – Last Night's Joy – (Gerry O'Connor)
  • 2018 – Up She Flew – (Steph Geremia)
  • 2019 – Heather Down the Moor – (Gatehouse)
  • 2019 – A Snapshot in Time – (Paula & Melanie Houton)
  • 2024 – Seven Daughters of the Sea (Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin)
Appearances

Recording/Mixing

  • 2011 – Réalta – Open the Door for Three
  • 2012 – The Olllam
  • 2012 – Oirialla
  • 2013 – Ronan Le Bars Group – Lammadour
  • 2016 – Ronan Le Bars Group – An Erc'h Kentañ – The first snow (Coop Breizh)
  • 2018 – Stevie Dunne – Live at the Crosskeys
  • 2018 – Music in the Glen
  • 2019 – The Blackwater Céilí Band – Music in the Valley
  • 2019 – Joshua Burnside – Live at the Elmwood Hall
  • 2019 – Bene + Cormac – Wavelength
  • 2020 – Ronan le Bars – Strink Mor

Footnotes

  1. British Broadcasting Corporation
    . 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  2. ^ "At First Light – The Irish Times – The Ticket". Dublin: The Irish Times. 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  3. Nashville: Compass Records
    . 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  4. ^ "Folk World News". Germany: Folk World. 1999. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  5. Raidió Teilifís Éireann
    . 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  6. ^ "Gerry O'Connor". Dublin: Dundalk Online. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  7. ^ "In Christ Alone – New Hymns of Prayer and Worship". Portland, Oregon: Discogs. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  8. ^ "The Boys from County Clare". IMDb. 2003. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  9. ^ "Irish Television Research". Dublin: Trinity College Dublin. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  10. ^ "The Ticket – Tripswitch". Dublin: The Irish Times. 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  11. ^ "Tripswitch Review – The Living Tradition". United Kingdom: The Living Tradition. 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  12. ^ "Top of the World – Songlines". United Kingdom: Songlines. 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  13. ^ "Geantraí". Scotland: AllCelticMusic. 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  14. ^ "News archives". Ireland: Uilleann Obsession. 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  15. British Broadcasting Corporation
    . 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  16. British Broadcasting Corporation
    . 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  17. ^ "Project Arts Centre Events". Dublin: Project Arts Centre. 2008. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  18. British Broadcasting Corporation
    . 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  19. ^ "The Irish Festival of Oulu – TradConnect". TradConnect. 2010. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  20. ^ "Gort na Glaise". Drogheda, Ireland: Drogheda Arts Centre. 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  21. ^ "WKPF: Youth Pipe Band Of Scotland – Armagh Pipers Club". Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland: William Kennedy International Piping Festival. 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  22. ^ "New release: Gráinne Holland – Teanga na nGael". The Living Tradition. 2012. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  23. ^ "Celtic Connections 2012 review: At First Light". Folk Radio. 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  24. ^ "LET THE FAIRIES IN – Irish Song". Irish Song. 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  25. ^ "Shalom Belfast". Manhattan: Israeli Film Center. 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
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